Current Affairs Quiz-September, 2020

Notes:
As per the credit rating agency CRISIL, Indian economy will contract by 9 per cent in 2020-21 on account of COVID 19 pandemic.
The agency has stated that the infection is yet to peak and the financial assistance provided by the Government is not sufficient. Earlier in May 2020, Crisil had estimated the economy to contract by 5 per cent

Notes:
The Government of India has released a sum of Rs.6,195 crore to 14 states as Revenue Deficit Grant. This is as per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission.
Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal are the 14 states to receive the grant from centre.

Notes:
Jammu & Kashmir has announced the commencement of a public grievance redressal system named JK i-grams.
It stands for Jammu and Kashmir integrated grievance redress and monitoring system. The system is started on a pilot basis in Srinagar, Jammu and in Reasi. By 2nd October, the state is expected to include all villages in the system.

Notes:
Amazon India has recently confirmed that the Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan will become the first Indian celebrity whose voice will feature on the Alexa voice assistant.
The company is to add the voice of the actor as a paid upgrade and that will be added through the Alexa Skills interface. His voice would be used in notifications about weather, jokes and advices, as a part of attracting customers.

Notes:
The Governor of the costal State of Louisiana, United States has declared a state of emergency on account of the tropical Storm Sally.
The storm is expected to strengthen to a hurricane and will weaken back to a tropical storm while moving inland over Louisiana.

Notes:
The Horticulture Department of the Jammu and Kashmir has launched the Flagship programme ‘Backyard Horticulture’ under CAPEX scheme.
The programme aims to promote organic fruit production for home consumption. Under the programme, three fruit plants will be distributed among the farmers at 90% subsidy. It increases self-sustenance and also preserves environment.

Notes:
Two important bills pertaining to Ministry of AYUSH has been passed in Lok Sabha, namely the “National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill 2020” and “National Commission for Homoeopathy Bill 2020”.
The said bills have been already passed in the Rajya Sabha in March 2020. The bills seek to replace the existing “Indian Medicine Central Council Act 1970” and “Homoeopathy Central Council Act 1973”.

Notes:
Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank presented the first ever AICTE-Visvesvaraya Best Teacher Awards 2020.
The award has been conferred to 12 faculty members of AICTE approved institutes on the occasion of Engineers Day. The award has been introduced to identify extraordinary teachers and recognize their best practice in the field of higher technical education.

Notes:
The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package Insurance Scheme for Health Workers has been extended for a period of 180 days.
It is a central sector scheme that provides an insurance cover of Rs.50 lakh to health workers who would have direct contact with COVID 10 patients. The scheme was initially launched on March 30th this year for a period of 90 days. It was earlier extended to a further period of 90 days till 25th September.

Notes:
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has permitted SII – Serum Institute of India to resume clinical trials of COVID vaccine, which was paused last week as per an order by DCGI.
The SII is conducting trials of the vaccine being developed by Oxford University’s Jenner Institute and Astra Zeneca. DCGI has advised SII to take additional care during the trial and to submit the details of medication to ensure that it in accordance with the protocol for the management of adverse events.